The 1920s were a time of excess and growth. Economically, it was a time of great financial gains. Largely due to technological improvements, productivity has increased while overall production costs have decreased and the economy has grown. Not only was this period full of prosperity, but also corruption. People who previously worked day and night finally acquired free time. Some of the richest people have chosen to fill this free time with gluttony and lust. Many authors in this period believed that excessive spending and consumption would surely lead to ruin. While many people associate good times and carefree abandon with the reveries of the 1920s, some also suggest a hidden, much darker side. In his novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald expressed his belief that wealth and materialism corrupt the American dream. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald shows his disapproval of the times by portraying characters attempting to achieve their American dream by any means. means possible. Myrtle Wilson, a low-class resident of the Valley of Ashes, puts her morals aside when she pursues a life of wealth. Not even marriage stops Myrtle from having an affair with Tom Buchanan, a rich man who finally allows her to buy the life she thinks she deserves. Not only is Myrtle cheating on her husband, but she is having an affair with someone who caught her attention with "a fancy dress and patent leather shoes and [she] couldn't take her eyes off him" (Fitzgerald 40). It is not love for Tom that attracts Myrtle, but his money and power that she craves. Jay Gatsby, a man truly in love with Daisy Buchanan and not simply with the money she represents, aspires to realize his dream of wealth in ... middle of paper ... contents of Tom and Daisy indicate that wealth cannot buy everything, including happiness. Fitzgerald questions the validity of the fiscally inclined American dream within The Great Gatsby. During the 1920s, F. Scott Fitzgerald conveyed his disdain for corruption within the American Dream by describing society's immoral actions in his literature with a disapproving tone. Even though the country was economically prosperous, people increasingly lost much-needed morals on their journey to the American dream. Business and other sins took place with little blame. People got caught up in the corruption around them to try to get their share of the growing wealth. Without making some changes, society could have been headed towards self-destruction. Works Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. 1st ed. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print.